30 Days to Form Government, Date not Confirmed!!

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) ended their meeting regarding Iraq. The UNSC received from official channels that the government of Iraq will be extending the Development Fund of Iraq for another year. This is a topic that I have been mentioning on and off for the past six months. The current Iraqi banking industry, both private and state (banks) are too weak to accept the DFI funds. The Ministry of Finance has said in local reports in reference to the DFI account that Iraq is just not ready or willing to accept the risks.

At Thursday’s (nearly cancelled) Iraq Parliament meeting the Al-Iraqiyah List came to the conclusion that any agreement with the State of Law Coalition (SLC) is not worth the paper it is written on.
At the meeting, the agreement that was made was that after the Parliament Speaker and his two deputies were voted in, a motion would be brought up to the Parliament members on the removal of Bath party association laws. Instead, Prime Minister, Maliki’s Political Bloc went ahead and began the voting for the position of President. There was some backlash in regards to the PM’s bloc going forth with this voting which caused the Al-Iraqiyah List members and the newly elected Parliament Speaker to walk out of the Parliament building. The Al-Iraqiyah List leader, Iyad Allawi was then contacted directly by the President of the United States regarding walking out. Very uncomfortable situation it was.
Iyad Allawi was convinced to join the Parliament session and accept the new position of National Council for Strategic Policies. This position will include executive powers and will have 20 members. Among them will be Nuri Al-Maliki. The responsibilities of the new position will include national security, foreign policy, and whatever affects the country’s future and its decisions. The council members have been appointed to oversee the PM Maliki while he conducts his government duties. However, the SLC has stated that this is not true in regards to the over watching of PM Maliki. This could be a hint of upcoming trouble between the Al-Iraqiyah List and the State of Law Coalition. Allawi will have the authority to appoint over 100 advisers and will have plenty of personal protection while he conducts his duties. Please note that Allawi has not officially accepted anything and has just recently stated he would not return to the political process unless certain guarantee’s were made. Allawi said that the Barzani initiative has been buried by the SLC political bloc. We believe that Allawi will change his position and participate in the new government.
Another thing worth mentioning is that the President-elect Jalal Talabani did not officially assign the National Alliance candidate Nuri Al-Maliki to assume the post of Prime Minister. Talabani just vowed to assign him to do so. The official assignation should be done by official letter sent by the president of the republic to the one who will be assigned the task to form the government. When this is completed the Prime Minister will have one month to form his government. You should expect the official assignation to happen after the Id Al-Adha holiday. It is important to note that, the official 30 day countdown does not start till President Talabani sends the official letter.
The Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) has made a decision to not re-denominate the Iraqi dinar this year as some articles have published. My associates have confirmed this through contacts within the banking industry and contacts within the Central Bank. I stand firm on this. No re-denomination in the year 2010.
American Contractor
E-mail: ac@americancontractor.com